[38] Spokesman: we go to talks with flexibility and determination
Politics

The European Commission on Wednesday approved a Greek government plan
to rescue ailing national carrier Olympic Airways, Transport Minister
Costis Hatzidakis announced after an Inner Cabinet meeting chaired by
Premier Costas Karamanlis. The Commission formally announced its
approval of the plan shortly afterwards.

Hatzidakis referred to a "major structural intervention" by the
government regarding the thorny OA problem that "permanently solves an
issue that has occupied Greek society and the political system for the
past 30 years".

He told reporters after the meeting that the new air carrier would be
privatised, offering job security for its workforce. The plan provides
for closure of the existing debt-ridden company, with a parallel
commencement of procedures for the establishment of a new company
managed by private investors.

The new company will inherit the Olympic Airways name and logo and its
valuable routes and airport slots in Greek and international airports.

"The Olympic Airways and Olympic Airlines cases have been a source of
contention between the Commission and Greece since 1994. Even today in
partially closing a further investigation we have found a further 850
million euros of State aid has been granted to these companies." Vice
President Antonio Tajani was quoted as saying in Brussels.

"I strongly hope that with today's (Wednesday) Commission approval of
the privatisation plan we send the message that we want a definitive
break with the past. It is my conviction that a new air transport
market in Greece undistorted by state aid can develop. Our experience
with previous cases involving other air transport companies facing
similar challenges proves that these companies not only thrive but
compete successfully in a market free from State aid. The privatisation
processes approved today, which are the product of long, tough but
nevertheless always fruitful discussions between the Greek authorities
and the Commission, offers a solution which will be better for Greece,
for competition and for passengers," the Commissioner responsible for
transport told reporters.

Gov't

"The systematic and hard work done with the EU Commission leading to an
important solution that helps Olympic Airlines (OA), respects its
employees and creates better conditions in the search for an investor,"
government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos said during his regular
press briefing.

Responding to a question on whether the solution will be binding for
the next government, in case there is any change in the current
situation, Roussopoulos stressed that "the government has plenty of
time ahead", underlining that "the solution was discussed meticulously
with the EU Commission."

He also stated that this is the best possible scenario for OA, its
employees and prospective investors.

PASOK

On its part, main opposition PASOK noted, via a relevant spokesman,
that "the country's development passes through air transports. The
existence of a private monopoly will turn the country back many years
ago."

Former minister Nikos Sifounakis charged that the government has
repeatedly announced OA's closure and has left the carrier with 10 less
planes and lost revenues of 230 million euros. He also claimed that the
EU Commission will tack on an 800-million-euro fine for illegal
subsidies between 2004 and 2008.

The Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA), a fierce opponent of any
privatisation of the state-run carrier, referred to OA's "tombstone" in
the form of the "so-called reform plan".

Transport and Communications Minister Costis Hatzidakis on Wednesday
presented the restructuring plan for Olympic Airways, after its
approval by the European Commission. In a press conference which lasted
almost three hours, the Greek minister said the government's aim was
the transition into a new competitive airline company through a
solution with two legs: a) the privatization plan and b) ensuring
workers.

The privatization plan envisages five stages. Pantheon will set up
three new companies, one the airline, another for ground services and a
third the technical base. The second stage envisages selection of a
private investor through an international tender, by the end of the
year.

The new airline company will cover 65 pct of Olympic Airlines' current
flight schedule, while the two other companies will employ no more than
Olympic Airways-Services' current workforce. Initially, Pantheon will
hold 51 pct in all three companies while the remaining 49 pct will be
held by a private investor. This ratio will gradually change until the
private investor holds 100 pct of the company.

Hatzidakis said the Greek state will offer all assets owned by Olympic
Airlines -including the most important slots- while the investor will
participate in the new company phorm with cash. "We are not selling the
brand name, but we give the license to operate to a private investor,"
he stressed.

The plan envisages special care for workers in the national carrier.
The government will offer full retirement or subsidized early
retirement for 2,745 workers, while others will be offered the choice
of a transfer to another public sector agency or enterprise, or income
subsidy for the period of three years. Hatzidakis stressed, however,
that the state will not participate in talks between the private
investor and workers.

The Greek minister said the social benefit plan for Olympic Airlines'
workers will total 1.2 billion euros for a period of 25 year.

Under the plan, the Transport ministry will hold an international
tender for the sale of the company by the end of December, the three
new companies will be ready by April and full privatization of the
airline company is expected by the end of 2009.

Lazards, National Bank, Emporiki Bank and Alpha Bank have been named
consultants to the Greek state.

PASOK spokesman on Olympic Airlines

Main opposition PASOK party spokesman George Papaconstantinou,
referring on Wednesday to statements by Transport and Communications
Minister Costis Hadjidakis, said that "for the first time we heard a
government minister rejoicing over a solution that will include an EU
commissioner" and that in announcing the "end of Olympic Airlines" he
spoke "not as a minister of the government, but as an EU commissioner."

Papaconstantinou termed the outcome of negotiations on Olympic Airlines
as the "worst possible result" and when asked if "specific interests
lie behind the government's choice" he said that "objectively, the
specific choice serves interests. In no way do we want to incriminate
other business activities in the air transport sector. We want neither
a private nor a state monopoly, we want healthy and viable Olympic
Airlines that will convince its customers. What is about to be lost at
this moment is the citizen's possibility of making choices."

The spokesman further said that "we all know that Olympic Airlines need
a new framework to be able to stand up to competition, we are all aware
that it has had problems for years and that new viable Olympic Airlines
are necessary with state and private capital and with strategic
alliances."

Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis will have a series of contacts
with many of her counterparts, on the sidelines of the 63rd UN General
Assembly, the sessions of which will start on September 23.

Bakoyannis is due to arrive in New York on Saturday. She will meet UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and attend receptions given by the U.S.
president and the UN Secretary General.

On September 22 and 25 respectively, a High Level Meeting will be held
at the United Nations for Development in Africa and a Summit Meeting
for the Development Target of the Millennium, at which the Greek
delegation will participate.

Bakoyannis will address the plenum of the General Assembly on Monday,
September 29.

On the occasion of her presence in New York, Greece's foreign minister
will meet with officials of the Greek-American community, while she
will attend a reception which will be given by Greece's Consul General,
Agi Baltas, on the 25th of the month.

It is expected that Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannis Valinakis will also
arrive in New York on Friday for the sessions of the General Assembly.

Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis will participate in the 1st EU-Central
Asia Forum on security issues which will be held in Paris on Thursday.

Political and military issues will be discussed at the Forum, as well
as energy and environmental security and the struggle against terrorism
and drugs.

The minister will be meeting on the sidelines of the Forum with her
counterpart from Turkmenistan, Rashid Meredov, with whom she will sign
a Bilateral Consultations Protocol between the foreign ministries of
the two countries.

Bakoyannis will also be having bilateral meetings with her counterparts
from Kazakhstan and Kyrghyzstan, Marat Tazhin and Ednan Karabayev
respectively.

She is also scheduled to have bilateral meetings with the foreign
ministers of Tajikistan, Hamrokhon Zarifi, and Uzbekistan, Vladimir
Norov, on Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis awarded the medal of the Order of the
Phoenix to three distinguished French academics, on behalf of President
of the Republic Karolos Papoulias, during a special ceremony held at
the Greek embassy here on Wednesday. The awards were given to Francois
Terre, Michel Albert and Gabriel de Broglie.

Bakoyannis referred to the contribution of the three academics to the
proliferation of the Greek spirit and culture, "which is expressed with
the three basic values, that are common in both countries: democracy,
peace and the harmonious coexistence of peoples."

She said that "this culture, which unites Greece and France, also
shapes our identity" and thanked them for their work "through which the
ideals of culture emerged, that has its roots in classical Greece and
which, at the same time, determines present-day Greece."

Bakoyannis will be participating in the two-day European Union-Central
Asia Conference, organised by the French EU Presidency and whose
sessions will be starting at the OECD's building on Thursday.

The minister's programme includes bilateral meetings with counterparts
of hers from the countries of Central Asia.

Foreign ministry spokesman George Koumoutsakos on Wednesday commented
on the statements by the EU Special Representative for the Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) Erwan Fouere, saying that they
highlighted the mistaken tactics used by Skopje's government in blaming
Athens for its problems.

"Until now [FYROM Prime Minister Nikola] Gruevski had tried, in spite
of all the problems he faced, to always point a finger at Greece. The
recent statements of the European Commission's representative in Skopje
Mr. Fouere contradict this logic and show that alibis cannot be sought
where these do not exist."

He also responded negatively to the question if he is alarmed by widely
reported contacts between ruling New Democracy Party (ND) MP Petros
Tatoulis has with the leader of the small opposition party LA.OS.

President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias on Wednesday had a meeting
with Parliament President Dimitris Sioufas.

Leaving the presidential mansion, Sioufas said the meeting had been
mainly formal in nature, in order to brief the president on the
diplomatic and other activities of the Greek Parliament, such as those
for protecting the environment and the special Parliamentary session
held two days ago to mark the International Day of Democracy with the
president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Pier Ferdinando Casini
attending.

The head of the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) Parliamentary
group Alekos Alavanos on Wednesday asked the government to brief
Parliament on how it intends to deal with the global economic crisis.
He was speaking during a Parliamentary discussion on a draft bill
regulating issues concerning security firms and private detectives.

Alavanos pointed to the problems faced by major financial institutions
with links to Greece like Lehman Brothers, one of the country's
creditors, the investment bank Goldman Sachs and American International
Group that was now faced with imminent bankruptcy and also had a Greek
subsidiary, stressing the need for a Greek contingency plan.

"The citizens are seeing the fall of all stock markets - including the
Greek one - and we don't have a plan B for active intervention of the
public sector in these matters," he said, pointing to the intervention
of the U.S. government with its own ailing mortgage firms.

The US ambassador to Athens on Tuesday evening joined other
high-ranking US envoys around the world in hosting an "Iftaar" meal,
the traditional Muslim fast breaking at sunset, which occurs during the
Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Among the guests at US ambassador Daniel Speckhard's official residence
in Athens were Iraqi ambassador Hatim Abdul Hassan Al-Khawam, who
addressed the gathering, Bishop of Velestino Damaskinos, who
represented the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Greece, and the chief
rabbi of Athens, Jacob Arar.

Other guests included high-ranking diplomats from Arab and Muslim
countries and officials from the Greek foreign affairs and education &
religious affairs ministry.

An international conference on the theme "The role of ports as hubs of
communication between land and sea transports" took place at the
Piraeus Port Authority on Wednesday.

The conference's sessions were opened by newly appointed Merchant
Marine & Island Policy Minister Anastasis Papaligouras.

In his speech, Papaligouras stressed the importance of the conference
and that its holding by the economic committee of the United Nations
for Europe, in cooperation with the Merchant Marine & Island Policy
Ministry, signals the great weight which the organization gives in the
promotion and dissemination of knowledge on the issue.

The minister said that the participation at the conference of
representatives of states and agencies from a great number of countries
demonstrates the importance which is attributed to transports in the
framework of the globalized economy.

He said that a basic element of contemporary economic developments is
the consistently increased demand for the transport of individuals and
cargo, while sea cargo transports increased internationally at an
average annual rate of 9.2% during the decade 1997-2007 and from 4.8
billion tons of transported cargo in 1997, it was shaped to 7.1 billion
tons in 2005.

LEADER-type projects and processes will be used in Greece's fishing
sector, Agricultural Development and Foods Minister Alexandros Kontos
announced on Wednesday during a seminar at the ministry on a national
strategy for fisheries.

The minister announced an upcoming meeting with European Commissioner
for maritime affairs and fisheries Joe Borg at the end of the month to
discuss the major problem facing Greece's fishing industry, which was
the fishing carried out in deep waters of the Mediterranean by
fishermen of non-EU countries.

Merger and acquisition activity between Greek enterprises jumped to
15.7 billion euros in 2007, while M&A activity is expected to grow
further this year, a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers reported on
Wednesday.

The value of the top 10 mergers and acquisitions in Greece totaled 10
billion euros, or 64.7 pct of total activity, PwC's executive Aemilios
Giannopoulos told reporters, presenting the report.

Giannopoulos stressed the value of M&A activity in the first half of
2008 totaled 8.9 billion euros, up from 6.4 billion in the
corresponding period in 2007.

Banks and other financial services recorded the biggest activity in
merger and acquisitions, with 34 transactions worth 3.1 billion euros,
while the technology and telecommunications sectors recorded the
biggest value in M&A activity (16 transactions worth 5.6 billion
euros), followed by the shipping sector (20 transactions worth 1.1
billion euros).

The report stressed that large Greek banks continued their investment
activity in the Balkans and the wider region, although with smaller
acquisitions. The global credit crisis that began in August 2007
affected the "confidence feeling", higher prices and liquidity, the
"raw material" of the banking system, PwC said adding that it was
rather unlikely that foreign banks decided to invest in Greece through
acquisitions of domestic banks. The report underlined, however, that it
would be logical any domestic consolidation of the banking sector,
particularly between smaller Greek banks.

Giannopoulos said that the Greek M&A market was affected more lightly
compared with other international markets.

Greece's trade deficit shrank to 18.1 billion euros in the first six
months of 2008, down 1.3 billion euros from the corresponding period
last year, Eurostat said on Wednesday.

The EU executive's statistics agency, in a report, said Greek exports
totaled 8.5 billion euros in the January-June period, while imports
totaled 26.6 billion euros. Exports were slightly up from 8.4 billion
euros in the first half of 2007, while imports eased from 27.8 billion
euros.

The newly built Modios Bridge on the Thessaloniki-Kavala motorway,
northeast Greece, opened to motorists Wednesday replacing an older
construction that had collapsed in October 2006 due to heavy flooding.

The 2.25-million-euro bridge construction project also included road
surface repair and anti-flood works.

Trade and technological cooperation between organic product companies
in Greece and the neighbouring former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
(fYRoM) will be examined during a one-day conference in Thessaloniki on
Oct. 1, hosted by the by the Federation of Northern Greece Industries'
network of organic producers.

Organic products appear to constitute an attractive business option for
more and more producers and entrepreneurs in the Balkan, and recently
in fYRoM, organisers said.

Launched in 2000, the sector of organic products in the neighbouring
country corresponds to roughly 1 percent of the country's cultivated
land in 2006.

Striking railway workers on Wednesday staged a demonstration outside
the transport ministry, in the framework of a 24-hour strike to demand
wage increases above the rate of inflation and collective labour
agreements.

All services of the Railway Organisation of Greece (OSE) and the
Proastiakos suburban railway have been cancelled for the duration of
the strike, with the exception of essential skeleton services, while
the Athens metro has also cancelled all metro services between
Doukissis Plakentias station and the Athens airport.

A delegation of striking workers met Transport and Communications
Minister Kostis Hatzidakis in order to outlined their demands, which
the minister said he would discuss with the other government ministers
involved, after which the protestors departed without incident.

Greek households' and enterprises' debt to banks totaled 235.9 billion
euros in July, up 18.1 percent from the corresponding month last year,
the Bank of Greece announced on Wednesday.

The central bank, in a report, said July figures showed a slowdown in
household borrowing, with Greek households' debt to banks totaling
122.9 billion euros, up 16.9 pct from the same month last year.
Mortgage loans totaled 74.8 billion euros, up 16.2 pct in July, from
17.1 pct in June, while the remaining 35.1 billion euros covered
consumer and credit cards, which grew by 18.8 pct in July, from 21 pct
in June.

The six largest mutual fund management companies operating in the Greek
market accounted for around 90 percent of total mutual funds' assets,
official figures showed on Wednesday. A report by the Federation of
Institutional Investors said that National Asset Management, a
subsidiary of National Bank Group, ranked first with total assets of
17.8 billion euros, or 29.17 pct of market assets, followed by Alpha
Asset Management (28.23 pct), EFG Mutual Fund (19.20 pct), Insurance
Organisations (4.97 pct), Emporiki (3.32 pct) and HSBC (2.13 pct).

A board meeting of the Athens Stock Exchange on Wednesday agreed on the
amendment of a market regulation covering stock share liquidity rates
in regular semi-annual reviews of market categories. The decision was
taken in view of a negative climate in international capital markets, a
development that could lead the transfer of a large number of listed
shares from the Large Capitalisation category to the Medium and Small
Capitalization category and from the Medium and Small Cap category to
the low liquidity category.

Under the new rules, the liquidity rate for a stock share to be
included in the Large Cap category was set at 10 pct, while the
transfer rate for a lower category was set at below 10 pct. A stock
share will be transferred immediately to the low liquidity category
when its liquidity rate fells below 3.0 pct. The new rules will be
valid from October 2008, when the ASE has scheduled its net regular
revision of market categories.

Meanwhile, Performance Technologies, on Wednesday became the eighth
company to be listed in the Alternative Market of the Athens Stock
Exchange. The company's share began trading at 3.0 euros per share,
valuing the company at 11.7 million euros. Performance Technologies was
founded in 1993 and has listed 3.9 million shares in the market.

Greek stocks rebounded on Wednesday, ending a five-day sharp decline of
the Athens Stock Exchange. Trading conditions improved in the Greek
market, in line with other international markets. The composite index
rose 0.83 pct to end at 2,957.92 points, with turnover shrinking to
272.2 million euros, of which 12.1 million euros were block trades.

Turnover in the Greek electronic secondary bond market totaled 1.237
billion euros on Wednesday, of which 605 million euros were buy orders
and the remaining 632 million were sell orders. The 10-year benchmark
bond (August 20, 2018) was the most heavily traded security with a
turnover of 595 million euros. The yield spread was 0.81 pct, with the
Greek bond yielding 4.88 pct and the German Bund 4.05 pct.

Proper water management is necessary even though water will not be
scarce for now and in the immediate future, Hellenic Committee of
Hydrogeology President George Stournaras said on Wednesday in summing
up the problematic state of water resources in Greece.

The causes of the problem, political responsibility and solutions, were
presented during a meeting organised by the group in view of the 8th
Hydrogeological International Congress of Greece and the 3rd MEM
Workshop on Fissured Rocks Hydrology, to be held in the Agricultural
University of Athens in early October with the participation of roughly
400 delegates from more than 30 countries.

Scientists referred to an "extended drought period", pointing out that
the situation is deteriorating rapidly, with water resources becoming
limited due to climate changes, increased water consumption and
water-related activities. They also stressed the lack of a centralised
policy for water management and planning.

Hydrogeology is the area of geology that deals with the distribution
and movement of groundwater in the soil and rocks of the earth's crust
(commonly in aquifers).

A delegation of MPs of the main opposition PASOK party, headed by its
officer for Culture issues Maria Damanaki, visited the new Acropolis
Museum on Wednesday, where they were given a tour of the premises and
briefed on progress in ongoing works by its director, Prof. Dimitris
Pantermalis.

The PASOK parliamentarians reminded that the effort had commenced at
the initative of the late Melina Mercouri, a former culture minister,
whose vision was the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece. They
noted the need for completion of the Museum, which they said was a
"jewel" for Athens that would be a constant reminder of Greece's demand
for the repatriation of the stolen and looted Marbles.

A benefit concert to encourage people to become organ donors and raise
funds for the National Transplant Organisation will take place at 20:30
on Thursday at the Attiko Alsos theatre, with many popular Greek
performers taking part.

The concert has been organised by the Athens-Piraeus Super-Prefecture,
whose prefect Dina Bei on Wednesday invited all Athenians to attend.

Tickets can be bought in advance at the Attiko Alsos Theatre box office
and the Athens Municipality Cultural Organisation's offices at 50
Akadimias Street. Further information is also available at the websites
www.ypernomarhia.gr και www.eom.gr.

The culture ministry will grant 350,000 euros to fund this year's
'Babel' Comics Festival in Athens, by order of Culture Minister Mihalis
Liapis, according to an announcement on Wednesday. The dates and
location of the festival are due to be announced by the organising
committee in the next few days.

Some 3,000 distinguished Greek-American scientists teach in US
universities, Education Minister Evripidis Stylianidis said on
Wednesday, speaking on the "Voice of America" Radio's Greek Service.

Responding to a question on whether the Greek state contributes to the
education of the Greek expatriate children, Stylianidis referred to his
trip last February to Chicago, New York and Washington and the visit to
the School of the Future in Philadelphia established by Microsoft's
Bill Gates as a new education model with branches around the world.

The minister stated that during his visit to the US he discussed with
Archbishop Demetrios of America and the leaders of the Greek-American
community the form and size of the assistance Greece intends to send to
ecclesiastical and charter schools.

The next trip to the United States will include stops from Florida to
Boston, the country's higher education centre, Stylianidis said, adding
that the roughly 3,000 distinguished Greek-American scientists
constitute a priceless resource with potentially notable contribution
to the higher education reforms underway in Greece.

A special exhibition for the sight-impaired, featuring tactile
reproductions of 28 works of art belonging to the Russian avant-garde
movement, is taking place at the Museum of Cycladic Art and will run
until October 17. The works reproduced form part of the Costakis
Collection owned by the State Museum of Contemporary Art.

Also taking place at the Museum of Cycladic Art in the exhibition "Five
seasons of the Russian avant-garde," featuring 90 works from the
Costakis Collection that ends on October 20.

The works on display were created for the partially and totally blind
by a team of experts from a wide variety of fields, working under the
guidance of the Panhellenic Association of the Blind - Regional Union
of Central Macedonia and of the Foundation for the Protection of the
Blind of Northern Greece.

According to the exhibition curator, the team used outlines and
materials with various textures to "reconstruct" the paintings on a
tactile basis, in addition to the use of captions written in Braille
and audio guide tours.

The exhibition is part of the State Museum of Contemporary Art
programme "Touching Art".

Athens Prefect Yiannis Sgouros has personally addressed a letter to the
prime minister to request urgent measures over what he calls the
problem of illegal immigrants congregating in the Omonia district of
central Athens.

In a letter released by his office, Sgouros said the area is in danger
of losing its "identity, downgrading citizens' life and dynamiting
every effort at intervention."

Sgouros also referred to "hundreds of economic migrants that are
labelled, en masse, as 'political refugees', only to be crammed into
buildings with rudimentary to non-existent hygiene, resulting in these
spaces becoming dangerous for themselves and other residents".

He also referred to increased reliance by local drug peddlers on newly
arrived illegal migrants and increasing rates of crime in the area.

Two Greeks were spotted by border guards in the region of Sayiada in
Thesprotia, northwestern Greece, and were arrested for carrying women
illegal immigrants of Albanian nationality in a state-owned car of the
Environment, Town Planning and Public Works ministry.

The two civil servants had picked up the illegal immigrants near the
Greek-Albanian border and, in return for a fee, they had taken them
inland. Both were brought before a public prosecutor in the city of
Igoumenitsa after files of proceedings were drawn up against them.

Another Greek was arrested at the Nea Selefkia crossing in Igoumenitsa
for carrying four Albanian illegal immigrants in his car and after
having received a fee. He was also brought before a public prosecutor.

A total of 82 illegal immigrants were arrested on the island of Samos
on Wednesday.

They told police that they had set off from the Turkish coast.

Specifically, port authority officers arrested 33 illegal immigrants
(32 men and a woman), who declared that they had arrived at the
island's coast with a boat which was destroyed during their
disembarkation.

Shortly after, a patrol boat located and arrested in the sea region
"Prasso", 49 illegal immigrants (35 men, four women and 10 minors).
They too had departed with a boat from the Turkish coast.

The arrested were transferred for precautionary reasons to Samos
General Hospital, while the port authority has launched an
investigation.

Cloudy weather with northwesterly winds are forecast in most parts of
the country on Thursday, with wind velocity reaching 4-6 beaufort.
Temperatures will range between 10C and 29C. Cloudy in Athens with
possible showers, with 4-5 beaufort northerly winds and temperatures
ranging from 17C to 27C. Fair in Thessaloniki, with temperatures
ranging from 13C to 23C.

The brainstorm taking place in ruling party New Democracy(ND) after
dissapointing poll results indicating main opposition PASOK leading by
2.2 percent, national aircarrier Olympic Airways privatization
according to European Commission's plan and the global financial crisis
dominated the headlines on Wednesday in Athens' newspapers.

ADESMEFTOS TYPOS: "15 million dollars seeking beneficiaries - It sounds
like a fairy tale, but it's true", noting to a US insurance company's
search for the heirs of 1,031 Greeks who had taken out insurance
policies between 1895 and 1914, to give them 15 million dollars
accruing from those policies.

President of the Republic of Cyprus Demetris Christofias will attend
Thursday's meeting, in the context of substantive negotiations on the
Cyprus issue, with determination and flexibility.

This was stated Wednesday by Government Spokesman Stephanos Stephanou
when asked about the second meeting between President Christofias and
Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, as part of peace talks which
take place in the Nicosia buffer zone, under UN auspices, and aim at
reaching a comprehensive solution of the Cyprus problem.

"The Greek Cypriot side and the Cypriot President have always tackled
these negotiations with great responsibility and seriousness, with good
preparation and adherence to principles, with determination and
flexibility", he said.

The spokesman added that the main goal is to reach a solution of the
Cyprus problem, that would reunify the island, divided since the
Turkish invasion of 1974.

He acknowledged however that negotiations will be "really hard". The
Greek Cypriot side, he said, expects that during Thursday's meeting
between the leaders of the two communities in Cyprus, there will be a
continuation of the substantive negotiation.

President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali
Talat held September 11th their first substantive meeting in the
context of direct talks with the aim to reunify Cyprus.